I have not seen that the 990 is going away, only that they are adding a new member (1190) to the line up. All this talk of a by-gone era, loss of a classic, etc. and I have not heard any of that. I see the 990 competing (trouncing) with the F800GS and Tiger 800 XC. The 1190 is fitting right in there with the group mentioned, and I bet they are eat them alive to. For example, it is the only bike in that class that is chain driven (with associated pros/cons). In that class, I bet the KTM crushes the ST and BMW, MST, and Tiger explorer. I am sure they did their market research before developing the bike.